Stem cell injections the secret to eternal youth?

Eternal youth could be just around the corner as new research on laboratory mice showed the animals lived three times longer than normal after being given stem cell injections.

Lab mice lived three times longer than normal after being given stem cell injections (Picture: Getty)

And humans could be next to benefit from this âshot of youthful vigourâ â the holy grail of modern medicine.

The rodents, engineered with the premature ageing condition progeria, developed new muscles and blood vessels in their brains after being given shots of stem cells from their younger, healthier counterparts.

Injecting the cells into 17-day-old mice saw an increase in their lifespans from an average of 21 to 28 days to more than 66 days. It is thought the healthy stem cells helped correct abnormalities in the cells of the mice.

Identifying the molecules that sparked this rejuvenation could help us hold off the ageing process altogether, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania claim.

âIt tells us that stem cell dysfunction is a cause of the changes we see with ageing,â said researcher Dr Laura Niedernhofer.

âMice that got a shot of stem cells just before showing the first signs of ageing were more like normal mice and grew almost as large.â